My Journey to Credit Union Leadership: David Feldhaus of Ascend Federal Credit Union

Name: David Feldhaus

Credit Union: Ascend Federal Credit Union ($4.2 billion, Tullahoma, Tenn.)

Title: Chief Financial Officer

Number of years at current credit union: Eight

Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in business administration and master’s degree in finance and accounting from Middle Tennessee State University

CU Times: What are your key responsibilities in your current role?

Feldhaus: As CFO, I am responsible for overseeing the accounting and financial reporting function and the overall financial well-being of the credit union. In addition, I manage the investment portfolio, risk management functions and financial analyst group. Our goal is to ensure we are providing the data and insights necessary to achieve our strategic objectives – ultimately working toward and completing our mission to serve the Middle Tennessee community by offering financial literacy education and giving back to the Ascend community.

CU Times: What drew you to the credit union industry?

Feldhaus: I was fortunate enough to work across a variety of industries in public accounting – giving me the insight and opportunity to lean toward financial institutions and the non-profit space. When I began learning about and researching different credit unions, I was drawn to Ascend because it’s a financial cooperative that prioritizes serving its members over making a profit. I was hired by Ascend in 2015 and haven’t regretted it for one second.

CU Times: What unique skills, experience and attributes do you bring to your role?

Feldhaus: I believe my educational background and professional experience, paired with knowledge across a diverse list of industries, gives me a good perspective when faced with challenges and identifying opportunities. I prioritize communication skills and utilize these skills to work across departments within Ascend, allowing me to serve as an approachable manager, and peer, within the organization.

CU Times: Which person (or people) do you credit the most for helping and supporting you along your career journey?

Feldhaus: Professionally, Ascend’s former President/CEO Caren Gabriel was the best leader and mentor I could’ve asked for. She allowed me to take this job and make it my own – while supporting me the whole way. Ascend and its executive team provided the tools, the support, the feedback and the encouragement for me to realize that we can always improve. Personally, my father showed me that compassion and hard work are the two most important traits a person can have – the ability, and opportunity, to help someone is a gift. A gift that should not be squandered or ignored.

CU Times: What are some of the biggest differences between working in your current executive-level role and your previous, non-executive roles?

Feldhaus: The biggest difference is the impact of decision-making. Decisions I make on a daily basis affect our employees and our credit union members. These decisions have both positive and negative consequences. In my current executive-level role, I have had to learn to prepare to not be popular due to the decisions that needed to be made for the betterment of the organization.

CU Times: What was a challenge you faced when you first joined your executive team, and how did you overcome it?

Feldhaus: When joining the Ascend executive team, I was faced with a significant learning curve. Each member of the executive team came with valuable experience, providing them with the confidence to handle the challenges that came along. Without as much experience, I turned toward researching, reading and learning as much as I could when making decisions. Something I did early on at Ascend was establish relationships with other credit union employees across various departments. These individuals taught me not only what they did – but why. Recognizing that every Ascend employee has a critical role to play – from entry-level positions all the way up to our executive leadership team – has ultimately made me a better leader today.

CU Times: How would you describe your current leadership style?

Feldhaus: I strive to constantly communicate – up, down, left and right – to better engage the Ascend team and ensure they know I care. By creating open lines of communication, I can better understand the needs of our organization, employees and credit union members and gain insight into the ways our team can help them achieve success.

CU Times: Do you approach your job any differently now compared to how you did pre-pandemic? If yes, how so?

Feldhaus: Post-pandemic, our team is hybrid. Following the pandemic, our team has had to expand on the way it utilizes technology. Technology has allowed our team to meet, communicate effectively and stay connected to one another.

CU Times: What’s next for you on your executive career journey? Do you have any specific career goals you’re working toward?

Feldhaus: My goal is to continue to learn and grow within my current position. The modern-day CFO is required to be diverse in understanding accounting, finance and strategy. The CFO’s role continues to evolve at a fast pace.

CU Times: What big-picture impact do you hope to make within your credit union, as well as for your members and community?

Feldhaus: I am a huge advocate for saving early, financial independence and – with any luck – retiring one day. For me, I listen to and read about these topics on a daily basis across a variety of platforms including podcasts, blogs and broadcast news. As an organization focused on financial literacy, I want to bring what I have learned both personally and professionally to help our employees and credit union members understand the power of knowing basic finance – and how, with incremental changes to your life, your goals can truly be attainable.

CU Times: What career advice would you give your younger self?

Feldhaus: The best advice I can give someone getting started in their career is to set aside lofty expectations of pay and benefits and say yes to the job that gets you experience and exposure to as many new things as possible. This will give you the tools and background to succeed in more ways than you could imagine. All that to say is play the long game and don’t pass on incredible opportunities because of short-sightedness.

Would you or someone you know like to share your journey to credit union leadership? Please reach out to Natasha Chilingerian at nchilingerian@cutimes.com. To qualify, you must have been placed or promoted into a new senior-level leadership role within the last three years at a credit union.